TalkTalk profits double and its payout leaps

TalkTalk’s shares surged 14% to their highest level in a year after the broadband and telecoms group raised the dividend by almost two thirds, with the promise of more to come.

Pre-tax profits more than doubled to £127 million in the year to March as it sold more products to customers and reduced the number who are quitting.

Chief executive Dido Harding, pictured, said consumers see TalkTalk as offering “value for money” against bigger rivals such as BT, Virgin and Sky.

“It sounds an awfully cocky thing for TalkTalk to say but we’re pretty resilient in tough economic times,” said Harding, who is a member of prime minister David Cameron’s council of business leaders.

She hiked the divi by 61% and committed to increase it by a further 15% for each of the next two years.

Profits rose despite revenues sliding 4.4% as TalkTalk simplified operations after the integration of several acquisitions, including Tiscali. A net loss of 13,000 customers in the last quarter was the best performance in 18 months, leaving the total base at just over four million.

TalkTalk, which sells broadband, home phone and mobile, will soon offer a “quad-play” with much-delayed TV service YouView, which won’t launch until late summer.